1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the area of database management systems with specific applications in content management and the assisted input of meta-information associated with, and often later used for selection and retrieval of, elements placed into a content database.
2. Background Description
Numerous content management systems, many of which are used to store or manage video content, have been built to date. Early systems merely provided the ability to add a short freeform textual description of the content. Other systems provided a series of fixed fields, e.g., subject, date, time, cameraman, etc., into which relevant information was placed. While the format for many of these fields was fixed, others, particularly the subject, were often left as freeform text and subject to the specific subjective whim of the individual entering the information. Yet other systems allow for the association of arbitrary attribute/value pairs. In these systems not only are the values associated with each field again subject to the vagaries of the individual doing the data input but also the actual attributes for which values are entered as well.
Other content management systems, most notably a variety of library management systems, focus on placing items into a taxonomic hierarchy. Generally, these systems suffer from two drawbacks. First, items are placed into a single category in the hierarchical taxonomy, which, while perhaps appropriate for library science, often misses all of the potential uses for a content element. Second, like the more specialized systems described above, they generally have a fixed set of attributes that are used for all categories.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved system and method for classifying media information stored in an database based on content.
It is another object of the present invention to achieve the above object by associating media information with a plurality of levels of a hierarchical taxonomy, which association allows the media information to be simultaneously classified into a variety of subject matter topics based on content.
It is another object of the present invention to allow a user to change the classification of a particular media item and/or the taxonomy structure used to classify that item with ease compared with conventional content management systems.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by providing a method for classifying media information using a taxonomy which includes: a hierarchy of nodes each of which corresponds to a category relevant to a topic of interest; one or more attributes related to each of the nodes; and one or more values related to each of the attributes. The method involves obtaining a media item, selecting a node in the taxonomy which relates to content of the media item, identifying at least one attribute related to the selected node, and then presenting for selection a predetermined cluster of values relating to the at least one attribute. The media item being classified may be a video clip, an audio clip, or text. Further, the predetermined cluster of values may be derived from a controlled vocabulary of values which may be modified at the discretion of a user.
After the clusters of values are presented, the method continues by allowing a user to select at least one value of from each of the cluster of values corresponding to the attributes associated with the selected node. The media item is then classified within the taxonomy based on the selected node, the attributes related to the selected node, and the values selected by the user for each of the attributes. This node and its related attributes and values may then be considered as meta-information for enabling selection of the media item by a user at a later date.
Advantageously, the method may be practiced using a graphical user interface which displays all or a portion of the taxonomy. A user then selects a relevant node for the media item by xe2x80x9cclickingxe2x80x9d on a category or sub-category shown in the displayed taxonomy. Once this selection is made, the attributes corresponding to the selected category are displayed along with the clusters of values relating to the attributes. A user then selects the values from each cluster into which the media item is to be classified. If desired, a media player may be coupled with the graphical user interface to increase the speed and efficiency of the classification method.